Statements of the design brief

Vacuum de-aerator and nitrogen de-aerator were chosen to be designed in this project.
Target performance
Both are used to eliminate or minimising solubility of undesirable gases especially oxygen gases
due to that will cause problem of corrosion and scale formation.
De-aerator basic working principle -Removal of the oxygen is achieved by raising the temperature
of the water. As the water temperature approaches the boiling point the amount of oxygen that the
water can hold decreases. When the water is ready to boil every molecule of water is prepared to
change to steam so the water has very little ability to hold dissolved oxygen. The dissolved oxygen
forms bubbles of gas in the water. Complete de-aeration is achieved when all those bubbles are
removed.
Vacuum de-aerator- Vacuum de-aeration is used at temperatures below the atmospheric boiling
point to reduce the corrosion rate in water distribution systems. A vacuum is applied to the system
to bring the water to its saturation temperature. Spray nozzles break the water into small particles to
facilitate gas removal and vent the exhaust gases.
Incoming water enters through spray nozzles and falls through a column packed with Raschig rings
or other synthetic packings. In this way, water is reduced to thin films and droplets, which promote
the release of dissolved gases. The released gases and water vapour are removed through the
vacuum, which is maintained by steam jet eductors or vacuum pumps, depending on the size of the
system. Vacuum de-aerators remove oxygen less efficiently than pressure units. A typical vacuum
deaerator is shown in figure below.

Important Considerations
Inlet water to the deaerators should be largely free from suspended solids, which can clog spray
valves and ports of the inlet distributor and the deaerator trays. In addition, spray valves, ports, and
deaerator trays may plug with scale which forms when the water being deaerated has high levels of
hardness and alkalinity.
Although deaerators reduce oxygen to very low levels. Yet even trace amounts of oxygen may
cause corrosion damage to a system. Therefore, good operating practice requires supplemental
removal of oxygen by means of a chemical oxygen scavenger such as sodium sulfite or hydrazine,
or other materials, such as organic, volatile oxygen scavengers.
Although deaeration removes free carbon dioxide, it removes only small amounts of combined
carbon dioxide. The majority of the combined carbon dioxide is released with the steam in the
boiler and subsequently dissolves in the condensate, frequently causing corrosion problems. These
problems can be controlled through the use of volatile neutralizing amines, filming amines, and
metal oxide conditioners.
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